Kia Carnival Complaints

397 consumer complaints on file.

#11685204September 5, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The 2025 Kia Carnivals have a safety systems that prompts the driver to, "Take and coffee break". The system cannot be turned off and is extremely distracting. The system prompts the driver even if the adaptive cruise control is turned off. I called Kia and they told me to take the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer was not able to turn the computer nag off either. The car makes a noise and the prompt flashes at the driver every few miles. This happens when traveling at highway speeds and in traffic. The driver has to look down from the road to see what the noise is and is greeted with the infuriating "Take a coffee break" message. It is extremely distracting and annoying to the point it induces road rage. The NTSB needs to investigate this system and require manufacturers to either allow owners to turn it off or do not include this feature in their vehicles. The next question is irrelevant because this happens on almost every highway drive. It is not a one time occurrence.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685082September 4, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
Vehicle Malfunction Report What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The vehicle's transmission and/or gear shifter system has failed to function as intended. When the gear shifter is set to "Reverse," the transmission has repeatedly shifted into "Drive" or "Neutral" instead. Concurrently, the vehicle's electronic backup camera system and audible sensor beep activate, indicating that the vehicle believes it is in reverse. The van is available for inspection upon request. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My safety and the safety of others were put at risk on multiple occasions due to the vehicle shifting into the wrong gear. This has caused the van to unexpectedly lurch forward when I intended to back up. I have nearly collided with other parked vehicles and my garage door between 10 to 20 times. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The problem has not yet been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center, but it has occurred on numerous occasions and is a confirmed issue by the driver. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? To date, the vehicle and its components have not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? There were no warning lamps or messages displayed prior to the problem occurring. The primary symptoms of the malfunction are the vehicle shifting into "Drive" or "Neutral" instead of "Reverse," while the backup camera and an audible beep are active. These symptoms began almost immediately after the vehicle was purchased.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683764August 28, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The power sliding door does not reverse when an object is in its path. The door closed on my sons body. He was okay we were able to pull the handle to make it open again but it did not stop on its own. Another instance the door did not stop closing when a toy went into the door. The door just crunched the toy and shut while beeping.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683404August 27, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
The main screen dashboard suddenly turned off while driving and will not come back. No odometer, turn signal, lane keeping, anything available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682732August 24, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Left sliding door window (Drivers side) exploded while driving down the highway. Nobody was around us on a sunday afternoon at [XXX]. [XXX] We were on a flat road so no tension. There is no reason for it to have shattered (my daughter was sleeping laid back in the seat) INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682506August 22, 2025
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
Dealer says recall sc211 doesn’t apply to this vehicle, however CEL is displaying (once again) with DTC “P0191 Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Range/Performance”. Kia dealer has does minimal investigation/diagnosis with no resolution.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682325August 22, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The Kia Carnival was parked a slight decline and when the button to close the passenger sliding door the door closed rapidly like a guillotine. Thankfully no children or body part were in the path of the door because it would have severely damaged them. After it closed rapidly the door was unable to be opened. The dealership is still working on the Carnival and it has been over 3 weeks and they said they have never seen anything like this since it tore off a bolt in the body frame and caused damage to the body frame and they were unable to open it. Still don't have a timeline for repair. Also concerned it may happen to the other side and the safety issues around it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11682287August 21, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My [XXX] son locked himself and his [XXX] brother in the car today. The scenario which is repeatable is if the cars start button is pushed to turn on accessory power the key fob will no longer unlock the doors. My father had the key fob outside of the car, while my son scrambled up front and pushed both the start button on the car and the door lock button. Again at this point the key fob is outside the car and will not unlock the doors. The daycare had to call 911 because two children were locked inside the car. This is an unacceptable situation for a minivan. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) I have not yet brought the vehicle to a dealer, there are no warning lights on the vehicle and the key fob is working and has power. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11681167August 17, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
Side passenger doors do not stop when something is in the way when the automatic door close feature is used. We tried holding a hot dog and large piece of celery in the way of the door as it closed. The sensor did not detect either item and broke them both in two. If this was a human limb, finger, neck or other body part, great bodily harm would occur.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680927August 15, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On two separate occasions, [XXX] and [XXX], I received emails from Kia Connect giving me a 12-Volt Battery Discharge Warning. I have the car out at the local dealership right now and they say there is nothing wrong with the battery but they are replacing it. I have noticed online multiple owners are complaining of the same issue and Kia has had a recall of a similar issue with a different model of car in the past. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680625August 14, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
When I was trying to accelerate over 30 MPH I got a driver assistance warning 10 warning lights came on so I pulled over and once I put the car into park it would no longer shift into drive.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680096August 12, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, POWER TRAIN
When traveling on the highway, the vehicle would not shift into a higher gear limiting the control of the vehicle to accelerate to the flow of traffic. The transmission would not shift for approximately 1/4 of a mile and was stuck at a max speed of ~35 mph and it would not accelerate. This loss of control almost caused an accident and put my family and self at extreme risk. Eventually the vehicle did finally shift gears allowing us to accelerate with the flow of traffic (60mph) This issue with a delay in shifting gears has intermittently happened on prior occasion when accelerating from a full stop, however, this was the first time it happened at an accelerated speed. The vehicle is not safe to operate and was towed to a service center; however, the issue is intermittent and not easily reproducible -- making it even more dangerous as you do not know when it will happen next.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11679632August 10, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Driver assistance system. This system monitors vehicle variables and unnecessarily SOUNDS A WARNING to take a COFFEE BREAK!! Here is the issue. When driving I need critical warning information. It is distracting while driving to be alerted to a COFFEE BREAK warning. PLEASE direct KIA to enable drivers to TURN OFF this feature. Every 10 minutes I am getting a warning and the warning is completely unrelated to driver status or restfullness. Driver assistance systems should be able to have HUMAN control. This is an assistance system, not a safety system. Please direct KIA issue as system update to allow human control of driver assistance.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11677758August 1, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Battery randomly dies.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676838July 28, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
After working out at my gym, my daughters and I were driving on a side street near at around 35MPH. With no warning, a large POP happened and our passenger sliding door window shattered. Thankfully, nothing but a scratch happened to my [XXX] that was in her car seat closest to the window that shattered. I called our local KIA dealership and my insurance agent and both mentioned that it could be because of the heat we are having in our area. This concerns me because the Carnival is a “MPV” aka family car and this happened without a chip or anything in the glass and terrified both of my girls. I have never heard of a window solely shattering bc of heat. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11676353July 26, 2025
AIR BAGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On or around [XXX] the rear occupant sensor warning light came on. We scheduled a service appointment with the dealership for 7/15/25 at 7:00 a.m.. We were informed later that morning that it was a defective module that could affect the air bags and it wasn’t safe to drive the car. It is 7/26/25 and we still wait on the part. Yesterday we were told by the service department that they didn’t know when the part would be available, it is back ordered due to the number of vehicles with the same issue. While our car waits at the dealership we got an email from Kia Connect giving us a 12 volt battery discharge warning. We don’t know if this is related or not but when looking online we found several people with that same problem as well. Our mechanic agreed that the 12 volt battery should not be discharging that fast due to just not being driven. The car sits at Russ Darrow Kia in Madison WI where parts and other information should be available. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11675728July 23, 2025
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
This is the second time, while I was driving that the car would not want to pick up speed and shuddered. The engine light came on again. And stayed on this time. I brought it back to the Kia dealer. They ran a diagnostic. They first wanted me to pay the cost. It is under the warranty. Now I am waiting for the parts and was told to not drive my car until it gets repaired. No loaner was offered. They said to drive it home and they will contact me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11674907July 20, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
The passenger sliding door pinch sensor did activate; but not before child’s hand was pinched in door and it almost drew blood. Door closes forcefully I have noticed compared to other minivan experiences I have with automatic doors. Quite a bit of force is needed to activate the sensor and cause the door to open back up. It needs to be more sensitive to avoid injury.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11674870July 20, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The floor behind the passenger side gets very hot and you cannot touch where the tracks for the seat are with your hand for risk of pain. This occurs for the middle passenger behind the front passenger and also the third row floor on the passenger side. Also the temperature in the cabin is substantially warmer due to this heat
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11674792July 19, 2025
ENGINE
While driving my 2022 Kia Carnival Prestige, the engine started knocking and the vehicle started sounding like it was going to turn off. There was no alert or light on until we got to the service center where the check engine light came on. I took to the nearest dealer with service center for Kia for inspection and repair which the dealer's service center indicated it was an engine failure at 62,203 miles. This failure was hundreds of miles away from my home. I had to return to my state on a rental vehicle. The vehicle remained at the service center for 2 months for engine replacement. Prior to this event, I had serviced the vehicle at my home dealer's service center since I bought it. I performed all maintenance and my home dealer never alerted to an engine trouble before this event. Once I retrieved my vehicle, the vehicle was fine for few weeks and at 66,427 miles the vehicle started having issues with a check engine light on again. I took to my home dealer's service center and after inspection they indicated it was a bad fuel injector. The vehicle became unreliable and unsafe for my regular commute. Once I received the vehicle with the new engine the performance and sound was very different than my old engine had been since I bought the car. I believe the original engine has been faulty since I bought the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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